Whatever the Outcome in Manhattan, the Trump Trial is a Victory for the Rule of Law
Trump has landed in a Manhattan courtroom where he could lose his liberty. For an accused felon, that’s as it should be.
Donald Trump’s hush-money trial has barely begun. The jury has heard only opening statements and an initial prosecution witness. But mark it a victory that the trial is underway at all.
The scowling former president, once the world’s most powerful man, has landed in a New York City courtroom where he could lose his liberty. For an accused felon, that’s as it should be.
The principle that no one stands above the law is so fundamental to the American experiment that it’s taken for granted. But Trump, by word and deed, has placed the principle in danger. Among the greatest risks of a second Trump presidential term is the erosion of the rule of law.
The threat to democracy Trump poses exploded into view when his supporters violently stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. This focused the public spotlight on all aspects of the integrity of the vote: accessibility of the ballot, accurate tallying of the results, and protection of the outcome from partisan interference. But safeguarding democracy’s indispensable handmaiden, the rule of law, is no less critical.
Americans fought a revolution to cast off the arbitrary rule of the British monarch and aristocracy. Their new republic grounded itself in popular sovereignty and the promise of equal justice under the law.
“In America,” the pamphleteer for independence Thomas Paine wrote in ‘Common Sense,’ “the rule of law is king.”
The nation has never aligned that stirring ideal with real-world practice. Legal outcomes are skewed by race, wealth, and influence. Some innocent defendants go to prison, or even get sentenced to death; some guilty defendants with top-notch lawyers go free.
But recognizing the system’s flaws is different from abandoning aspirations for a better one. That could only damage a social fabric already under more than enough stress.
The rule of law is also critical to the nation’s material prosperity. Respect for the sanctity of contracts and confidence that private property cannot be seized by government fiat allows businesses to invest and grow safely.
“I remind my fellow business friends," former Trump White House communications director turned Trump critic Anthony Scaramucci told Mehdi Hasan on Zeteo's 'Mehdi Unfiltered' last week. "If Mr. Trump takes power and he starts revoking the rule of law in the country…That is very bad for the flow of capital. And it's very, very bad for your business.”
As president, Trump took a sledgehammer to the rule of law. He fired an FBI director to thwart an investigation of his ties to Russia. He used government power to retaliate against news organizations for critical coverage. He abused the pardon process to spare criminal associates.
He sought to pervert the Justice Department in service of his bid to block President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory. And ultimately, he incited the violent insurrection itself. Lawmakers considering his subsequent impeachment feared that unhinged Trump supporters might endanger their physical safety as they did the Capitol Police.
The world noticed. The year Trump won the presidency, the World Justice Project ranked the United States 18th among countries in fealty to the rule of law. The year he left it, the U.S. ranked 27th, with a precipitous drop for “constraints on government powers.”
Now under indictment in multiple jurisdictions, Trump keeps displaying disdain for the legal system. Following a lifelong pattern of dodging consequences for misconduct, he peppers the courts with frivolous motions as part of his strategy of relentless delay.
“A continuing pattern of misuse of the courts by Mr. Trump and his lawyers undermines the rule of law,” federal judge Donald Middlebrooks declared last year after dismissing a “bad faith” Trump lawsuit against Hillary Clinton.
Trump impugns prosecutors, judges, witnesses, and jurors, subjecting them to the same potential for violence that members of Congress fear. He dares the courts to impose the sanctions any ordinary defendant would receive – jail time for contempt of court.
Trump-appointed allies within the legal system, from U.S. District Judge Aileen Cannon to Supreme Court justices, have lent a hand. If he puts off his two federal cases long enough and wins the election, he could use his control over the Justice Department to scuttle them. And he has left no doubt that he would do so.
Trump campaigns on a vow to turn the federal government into his instrument for retribution against political enemies. He tells supporters, “I am your justice.”
“It’s four years of scorched earth when Donald Trump retakes the White House,” his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, now co-chair of the Republican National Committee, vowed recently.
But first, Trump has to deal with the hush-money case filed by Manhattan district attorney Alvin Bragg. It’s a complicated set of allegations that turn on the interplay between extramarital affairs, hush money, business ledgers, and the 2016 election.
A single holdout juror could give the former president a hung jury and a claim of exoneration heading into the November election. The New York case may be, as legal critics argue, the weakest of the four sets of criminal indictments Trump faces.
But for now, it’s the only one he can’t push past Election Day. Whatever the outcome, the rule of law in America will be stronger for it.
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The list goes on and on, and still, many don't care what Trump says and does.
Biden needs to do three things, and he needs to drive them into the hearts and minds of the American people now.
1.) Get honest about what the Israeli government is doing, and stop being complicit in genocide.
2.) Let Americans know his financial plan so he can reassure the average voter they can trust him to improve their quality of life.
3.) Come out with a comprehensive plan to deal with the border firmly and compassionately.
Granted, this is all basic stuff that should already be out there, but hopefully, it's better late than never. 🤦♀️
I hope whoever wins the election has the guts to "stand up" to Israel and it's right wing cabinet. More than that I hope the whole Gaza bombardment has stopped by then but The US desperately needs someone who can take a stand for it's own interests rather than those of a rogue state. Trump for sure is definitely not that guy.